Does anyone know the answer to this one?

They were impaled on wooden pegs sharpened at the end going into the body. Most of the impaled were already dead. It was in fact a scare tactic meant to drive of the would-be invading Turkish armies. As the Turks far outnumbered the Romanian armies, he had to resort to gruesome tactics as this to protect the land. It is horrible by today's standard, but in those days many rulers left the executed bodies out as a 'warning' to others.